a Valentines Day Card swap...

just for us grown-up girls! :))

So, I've decided... Why wait until next year? Let's do a Valentines Day swap now! If you're interested in making and swapping 1 little handmade Valentine card, leave a comment below!! I'll match up swap partners next week, and that should give us lot's of time to make and send a Valentine before the 14th. {Since this is my very first time organizing a swap, any helpful advice is very much appreciated! and who knows, maybe this will turn into a regular event around here!}

and incase you need some Valentine color inspiration, I took a few photos yesterday. Enjoy!











I'll be back tomorrow with some new scrapbook-ish stuff. :)) Oh and don't miss the giveaway on the Crate Paper blog today!! I can tell you that the Emma collection is already one of my forever favorites!!

tiny Valentine art

hello all. I'm taking a little break from some morning yoga to write about my newest challenge on the
Entre Artistes blog. If you have some extra time this week, come play along!!



While driving around town this weekend, Alaina and I had a long conversation about Valentines Day cards, and why sometimes you have to give something away in order to receive something. (She picked out a box of Disney tv stars Valentines for her class and I don't think she wants to give them away. :))




That's one thing I miss about being an adult, we don't get a whole box of cheesey little Valentines Day cards anymore! I think next year I will organize a handmade Valentine swap because wouldn't we all like to see something special show up in our actual mail-box! :)

lah-de-dah

I'm just sitting here waiting for dinner to finish up. I have a pork-tenderloin in the oven and it smells incredible! (I wish my blog had smell-o-vision! yum!!) I'll cut a few tomato's and make a quick caprese salad, add some potatoes and viola dinner is complete. :) & while I was waiting I found this cute song:



a friend had emailed the other day asking if I had heard anything good lately (musically) and although I did get the record player I had dreamed about for Christmas, there is a Chipmunk album in it right now. :) The little girl was particularly excited to have found that record at a thrift store last weekend and we've certainly got our money's worth from it. :) So, no. Sadly, I have not been listening to very good music lately.

Have you found any new bands or songs that are worthy to share? I know she's not new but I have been listening to lots of Regina Spektor. She's so lovely!

Crate Paper dt

Want to hear a secret? :) (it was announced this morning on their blog, so I suppose it's not so much a secret anymore, but it's still kind of fun to pretend!) I'm happy to say that I'm now a:



I'm going to be spending some time as part of the crate paper design team! Working with Christine and pretty paper is right up there with fudge and tiramisu ice cream for me..... just perfect!

ok, thanks for letting me share! Oh! and happy Friday! :)

just popping in

Where did the past week go! Well, I can tell you where my week has probably gone... 2 sick kids and just when I thought I might have kind of a peaceful week, I've added even more projects to an already full to-do list. Oh-my!

and somehow in last months excitement I forgot to mention that I was a guest artist for 2 pretty scrapbook challenge blogs! The first is scrap idees, this is actually my second time designing for them! It's a cute sketch-challenge blog!



I was also a guest artist for the lovely and artsy
Page of My Book challenge blog. If you haven't seen their work, you need to!! Seriously, click on the link right now and go check them out!



Hopefully these two sites will leave you inspired to create something spectacular! I have one more big scrapbook surprise on the horizon. :) I'm so giddy and excited about this one, that it's been hard keeping it a secret this past week. :)

There are some little noses that need to be wiped and some homemade chicken soup to make. Be back as soon as I can!

good to be home

Alright, I may not be the first to admit it, but I kind of miss that it's not Christmas anymore. Don't get me wrong, I lived and breathed Christmas spirit for months this year, and yet it seemed to go by so quickly.

The best part of the holidays this year, was going home! Peter and I packed up the kids and even the 2 dogs and headed out on Christmas Eve for a 14 hour road-trip to Northern California. All of sudden the adventure of a road-trip has brought on a new meaning when you factor in small children and animals. The trip up there though was relatively uneventful, thankfully! We were all excited to be back in Cali for Christmas!

We spent 9 days, visiting both of our families and making the most of our Christmas together! We went to my parents' home first. Alaina and Chase loved their newest cousin Keira. Alaina had a sleep over and a little tea party with her.... I'm guessing Alaina is making up for the sister she didn't get. Chase, appropriately enough, chased the girls the entire time. So cute to see all of them playing together!



During our stay at my mom's, we all went to Marine World... well actually it's now a Six Flags, but when I was little it was just marine world. My not-so-little cousin joined us for the day too! Konrad just graduated last month from the Marines boot camp. It's hard to believe the little boy who use to want to do everything with my sister's and I, is now in the military. We're all so proud of him!











Since we missed the snow fall here in Cave Creek, we made up for it by taking them on a snow hill in Marine World. I'm thinking a real trip to the snow may be in order now that we're home!!




Peter and I even had time to drive over the hill to Napa. We wondered around the down-town, had lunch and played the part of a tourist oh-so well! I love Napa, and even though I'm not there during the spring time, it was still uniquely beautiful!




I took along my old camera, but it was sooo incredibly wet and cold the entire time we were there, my lens kept fogging up. :( What a bummer! The town of Vacaville has changed quite a bit since I was last there and I'm hoping to be back in the spring/summer time, when it will be less soggy. :)



Happy New Years from Mags and me!!!

My top favs of 2010

I know I'm a little early, but I'm not going to have any Internet for a couple of days! (gasp!! I hope I can make it!) Last year on New Years I posted this post, of a little collection of my favorite paper projects from the past year.



If you want to play along and post your favorites you can use Picnik or Big huge labs to create a collage in any size! Happy New Years!!

Presents & Sugar cookies

Just when I think I'm doing a good job at checking things off of my massive to-do list, I just find some more things to add to it..... Oh-well, Tis' the Season to be rushed! I did however find time to make a new scrapbook page last night. (Even I'm impressed with that small feat!) I'll save that page for next weeks post. :)



This morning I set aside some of my cleaning time to wrap a few more gifts. There's a job that seems never ending. (I'm not sure where I keep finding more gifts to wrap. They just show up every morning!) I totally cheated and used store purchased wrapping paper. I couldn't resist the cute colors for little kids. - To be a kid again at Christmas would be divine.-



I had a good friend come over this afternoon to make sweet treats for Santa and some for us of course! Rice Krispie Treats were made and Sugar Cookies were baked and decorated. I still love decorating cookies.... and eating the frosting. Something that I've, no doubt, passed onto Alaina. :)) She wanted me to post a photo of her cookies that she decorated. She was sooo proud of them!!



here's a few of mine...



Tomorrow one of my very favorite people in the entire world is coming over for a visit. I can't wait to see Danielle! I love the holidays because of the people that it brings through our doors!

a gift-wrap Guest Artist

I was asked to be a guest artist this week, but as a gift-wrapping guest artist! Fun right!! I wanted to post part of my guest post on my own blog, since gift-wrapping ideas have been my most asked question lately.

Here's a few of my tips & ideas for holiday gift wrapping:

*decide on a color scheme to use for your gift-wrap

* Instead of ribbon, try using a long strand of handmade paper garland.

* Use a handmade pom-pom in place of a bow.

* Use Glue Dots Craft Dots to attach your layers together, they're small and very sticky!

* To make a quick and simple gift box, use a natural Kraft box and add a small white paper doily to the top. Next, take 3 or 4 various lengths of ribbon, lace and or trim, and layer one on top of the other. Sew down the center of the ribbons to secure. Place the ribbon bundle on top of the gift and add a plastic snowflake on top, followed by a large handmade pom-pom. Use the yarn from the pom-pom to wrap and tie all around the gift.

* Look for non-traditional items to use for gift-wrapping, like flocked wall paper, clothing pattern tissue, large hand cut butterflies, rolled silk flowers, cards of buttons and my favorite, small clothes pins!!

To see the rest of the interview and guest post, check out this blog post. I still have just a few more gifts to wrap this weekend!!

Cinnamon Ornament- tutorial

This is one of my favorite holiday crafts to do!! I remember making these in 1st grade and now I have a little 1st grader who loves to make these ornaments with me. Plus, any excuse to bake with lots of cinnamon is right up my alley!

There are so many variations of this recipe, but this one is the one that works for me. Here's my tutorial for holiday Cinnamon Ornaments:



Materials:
1/2 cup ground cinnamon
1/3 cup applesauce (I use one of the kids' containers of applesauce, it's just the right amount)
2 Tbls. white glue (I'm using Aleene's Tacky Glue)
rolling pin & cookie cutters
*things for decorating: white paint, glitter, small beads or pearls, and string to hang with



Directions:
1. Mix the cinnamon, applesauce and glue, in a bowl until it has the consistency of dough (I use my hands to really mix everything together, it's a little messy though!)

**If the dough is too wet, add a little cinnamon, if it's too dry, add a little applesauce.**

2. Roll out dough, on a covered surface, to about a 1/4 inch thick.

3. Use cookie cutters to cut out ornaments, and transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet.

4. Use a tooth pick to make a hole at the top of each ornament.

5. Bake ornaments at 170 F. for 40 mins. Remove from oven and flip ornaments over. Return to oven and bake for another 20 minutes at 170 F. Remove from oven and let cool overnight.



**Use this time to admire the wonderful cinnamon smell that has filled your home.**

6. Decorate the ornaments with paint and glitter, and use a string to hang from the tree.

Have fun with the ornaments!! and remember no eating them, only smelling is allowed! xo ~ t

Time to explore

One of the great things about living in the desert is the weather. Even now, in mid-December, we're experiencing record heat, with day time temps. right around 85 degrees. Nice yes, Christmasy.... not so much.

However, anytime us desert-locals want to see 4 season weather, it's only a 2 hour drive North! I packed a pretty Christmas picnic basket yesterday and we braved the chilly air in hopes of seeing something that resembled winter. There was actually snow up there!! ** This is the same hike I did in Oct. when the leaves were changing colors. Those photo's are in this post.**















Every time we visit Sedona I wished we lived a little closer to the mountains!! :)